AMAG Pharmaceuticals Announces FDA Submission of a Supplemental New Drug Application for Feraheme

Updated

AMAG Pharmaceuticals Announces FDA Submission of a Supplemental New Drug Application for Feraheme

Label Expansion to Include All Iron Deficiency Anemia Patients Who Cannot Take Oral Iron

LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NAS: AMAG) today announced that it has submitted a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Feraheme® (ferumoxytol) Injection for Intravenous (IV) use. The sNDA requests FDA approval to expand the indication for ferumoxytol beyond the current indication for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in adult patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) to all adult patients with IDA who have failed or could not tolerate oral iron treatment. The application includes data from two well-controlled phase III clinical trials of more than 1,400 patients.


"This submission marks an important corporate milestone and represents the culmination of several years of work here at AMAG. The regulatory approval of Feraheme for a broader IDA patient population would expand our market opportunity in the existing U.S. IV iron market, beyond our current CKD indication," said William Heiden, president and chief executive officer of AMAG. "We believe that Feraheme, if approved for this indication, could provide a new treatment option for patients suffering from iron deficiency anemia who cannot tolerate or do not respond to oral iron therapy."

The sNDA submission is based on data from a global phase III program that evaluated the use of ferumoxytol in a broad range of adult IDA patients, all of whom had failed or could not tolerate oral iron treatment. More than 1,400 patients were enrolled in the two phase III clinical trials, IDA-301 (placebo comparator) and IDA-302 (active comparator). Both studies achieved their primary efficacy endpoints, with meaningful improvements in hemoglobin from baseline to the 35-day endpoint of the studies. Adverse events and serious adverse events associated with IV iron therapy, including hypersensitivity reactions, were reported in both studies. No new safety signals, outside of those described in the current Feraheme® (ferumoxytol) label, were observed with ferumoxytol treatment in these studies. These clinical trials also included patient-reported outcomes data as pre-specified secondary and exploratory endpoints. These outcomes endpoints, including quantitative measures of patients' fatigue and measures of quality of life, captured the negative pre-treatment impact anemia has on these patients' lives - and the significant improvement in these scores following a one gram course of therapy with ferumoxytol.

About Iron Deficiency Anemia

More than 4 million Americans have IDA; 1.6 million of whom are estimated to have CKD, while the other 2.4 million suffer from anemia due to other causes.1 For these patients with anemia due to other causes, the underlying diseases or issues causing IDA include abnormal uterine bleeding, gastrointestinal disorders, inflammatory diseases and chemotherapy-induced anemia. Many IDA patients fail treatment with oral iron due to intolerability or side effects.2

About AMAG

AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company that manufactures and markets Feraheme® in the United States. Along with driving organic growth of its lead product, AMAG intends to expand its portfolio with additional commercial-stage specialty pharmaceuticals. The company is seeking complementary products that leverage the company's commercial footprint and focus on hematology and oncology centers and hospital infusion centers. For additional company information, please visit www.amagpharma.com.

About Feraheme (ferumoxytol)/Rienso

In the United States, Feraheme® (ferumoxytol) Injection for IV use is indicated for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in adult CKD patients. Feraheme received marketing approval from the FDA on June 30, 2009 and was commercially launched by AMAG in the U.S. shortly thereafter. Ferumoxytol received marketing approval in Canada in December 2011, where it is marketed by Takeda as Feraheme®, and in the European Union in June 2012 and Switzerland in August 2012, where it is marketed by Takeda as Rienso®. For additional product information, please visit www.feraheme.com.

The important safety information below is based on the United States prescribing information.

Important Safety Information About Feraheme

Indication and contraindications

Feraheme is indicated for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in adult patients with chronic kidney disease. Feraheme is contraindicated in patients with known hypersensitivity to Feraheme or any of its components.

Warnings and precautions

Serious hypersensitivity reactions, including anaphylactic-type reactions, some of which have been life-threatening and fatal, have been reported in patients receiving Feraheme.Observe patients for signs and symptoms of hypersensitivity during and after Feraheme administration for at least 30 minutes and until clinically stable following completion of each administration.Only administer the drug when personnel and therapies are immediately available for the treatment of anaphylaxis and other hypersensitivity reactions. Anaphylactic type reactions, presenting with cardiac/cardiorespiratory arrest, clinically significant hypotension, syncope, and unresponsiveness have been reported in the post-marketing experience. In clinical studies, serious hypersensitivity reactions were reported in 0.2% (3/1,726) of subjects receiving Feraheme. Other adverse reactions potentially associated with hypersensitivity (e.g., pruritus, rash, urticaria or wheezing) were reported in 3.7% (63/1,726) of subjects.

Severe adverse reactions of clinically significant hypotension have been reported in the post-marketing experience. In clinical studies, hypotension was reported in 1.9% (33/1,726) of subjects, including three patients with serious hypotensive reactions. Monitor for signs and symptoms of hypotension following each Feraheme injection. Excessive therapy with parenteral iron can lead to excess storage of iron with the possibility of iatrogenic hemosiderosis. Patients should be regularly monitored for hematologic response during parenteral iron therapy, noting that lab assays may overestimate serum iron and transferrin bound iron values in the 24 hours following administration of Feraheme. As a superparamagnetic iron oxide, Feraheme may transiently affect magnetic resonance diagnostic imaging studies for up to 3 months following the last Feraheme dose. Feraheme will not affect X-ray, CT, PET, SPECT, ultrasound, or nuclear imaging.

Adverse reactions

In clinical trials, the most commonly occurring adverse reactions in Feraheme treated patients versus oral iron treated patients reported in ≥ 2% of chronic kidney disease patients were diarrhea (4.0% vs. 8.2%), nausea (3.1% vs. 7.5%), dizziness (2.6% vs. 1.8%), hypotension (2.5% vs. 0.4%), constipation (2.1% vs. 5.7%) and peripheral edema (2.0% vs. 3.2%). In clinical trials, adverse reactions leading to treatment discontinuation and occurring in 2 or more Feraheme treated patients included hypotension, infusion site swelling, increased serum ferritin level, chest pain, diarrhea, dizziness, ecchymosis, pruritus, chronic renal failure, and urticaria.

Post-marketing safety experience

The following adverse reactions have been identified during post-approval use of Feraheme. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure.

The following serious adverse reactions have been reported from the post-marketing spontaneous reports with Feraheme: life-threatening anaphylactic-type reactions, cardiac/cardiorespiratory arrest, clinically significant hypotension, syncope, unresponsiveness, loss of consciousness, tachycardia/rhythm abnormalities, angioedema, ischemic myocardial events, congestive heart failure, pulse absent, and cyanosis. These adverse reactions have occurred up to 30 minutes after the administration of Feraheme injection. Reactions have occurred following the first dose or subsequent doses of Feraheme.

For full prescribing information, please visit www.feraheme.com.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. Any statements contained herein which do not describe historical facts, including but not limited to statements regarding: the expected timing for regulatory review of the submission and outcome of the supplemental new drug application for the broader IDA indication and the availability of treatment options for patients; the company's intent to drive organic growth of Feraheme; and the company's plans to seek complementary commercial products to add to its portfolio are forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in such forward-looking statements.

Such risks and uncertainties include: (1) uncertainties regarding our and Takeda's ability to successfully compete in the intravenous iron replacement market both in the US and outside the US, including the EU, (2) uncertainties regarding our ability to successfully and timely complete our clinical development programs and obtain regulatory approval for Feraheme/Rienso in the broader IDA indication both in the US and outside of the US, including the EU, (3) the possibility that significant safety or drug interaction problems could arise with respect to Feraheme/Rienso, (4) uncertainties regarding the manufacture of Feraheme/Rienso, (5) uncertainties relating to our patents and proprietary rights, both in the US and outside of the US, (6) the risk of an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) filing following the FDA's recently published draft bioequivalence recommendation for ferumoxytol, and (7) other risks identified in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 and subsequent filings with the SEC. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made.

We disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements to reflect any change in expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

AMAG Pharmaceuticals and Feraheme are registered trademarks of AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Rienso is a registered trademark of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited.

1 U.S. Census; U.S. Renal Data System, USRDS 2010 Annual Data Report: Atlas of Chronic Kidney Disease and End-Stage Renal Disease in the United States, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, MD, 2010: 41-42; Fishbane, S. et al. Iron Indices in CKD in the NHANES 1998-2004. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2009 January; 4(1): 57-61.

2 Barton, James et al. Intravenous iron dextran therapy in patients with iron deficiency and normal renal function who failed to respond to or did not tolerate oral iron supplementation. Am J Medicine. 2000; 109: 27-32.

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AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Amy Sullivan, 617-498-3303

KEYWORDS: United States North America Massachusetts

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